Continuous web reinforcing machine



Feb. 3, 1970 J, M LE BOLT EVAL 3,493,455

CONTINUOUS WEB REINFORCING MACHINE Filed March 7, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 140 j QT] `46 W 72 @i5/s; v /j 4&1@ um@ @ma Wg 2;@ TL 5 50 49 +5 I 3/A/VE/VTORS JOHN M. LBOLT 55 A R/CHARD 0,. RUPP Feb. 3, 1970 J. M. L EBOLT ET AL CONTINUOUS WEB REINFORCING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 j 5 FiledMarch www;

/N VE N TORS. JOHN M. LE BOLT R/CHARD 0. RUPP Feb. 3, 1970 J. M. L EBOLT ETAI- 3,493,455

CONTINUOUS WEB REINFORCING MACHINE Filed March 7, 1966 I5 Sheets-Sheet 5/6 85 787 a/ 66 55 u u 'lu 1 64 l In /2 0 /2 /2 I);

37 56 l 23 f 63 32 /4 52 82: M50 /83 j 34 52 l 8 36 35 84 nl.

mi 23 37 MM /4 u 66 55 j@ M NVENTORS JOH/V M E BOLT R/CHARD 0. RUPPUnited States Patent 3,493,455 CONTINUOUS WEB REINFORCING MACHINE JohnM. LeBolt, Highland Park, and Richard O. Rupp,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to The Cromwell Paper Company, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 532,380 Int. Cl.D04h 3/08; B65h 81/00 U.S. Cl. 156-440 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A machine for forming a fabric of continuous crisscrossedreinforcing filaments between a pair of continuous Webs of sheetmaterial being laminated between a pair of pressure rolls, said machinecomprising an endless filament distributing chain encompassinglongitudinally extending marginal selvage strands in a plane normal tosaid strands and having means for guiding the filaments into engagementwith the selvage strands at a fixed point 1ocated a predetermineddistance forwardly of said delivery chain plane, the machine beingmovable longitudinally to adjust the distance between said fixed pointand the nip of the pressure rolls for varying the width of said fabricbetween the selvage strands.

Machines of this kind are well known in the art, as exemplified by U.S.Patents 1,951,301, 2,575,666, and 2,614,054, and in such machines thereinforcing strands are fed from a rotary creel, carrying a spool of thestrand material for each strand of the reinforcing fabric, to an endlessdistributing chain or strand layer, traveling an orbital path parallelwith the bite of the laminating rolls, and thence into the said bitebetween the webs to be reinforced along paths that extend obliquely ofthe webs as they are being laminated.

A problem in the operation of such machines, however, has been that ofadequate control of the reinforcing filaments or strands at the edges ofthe webs where reversal of the strand paths occur, particularly when thestrands are turned over a selvage string fed under tension between thelaminating rolls adjacent the edges of the continuous Webs of sheetmaterial, not only with respect to eliminating slack in the reinforcingstrands at the turn but also with respect to the tendency of the obliquestrands to pull the selvage strands toward each other and thus cause anecking inwardly of the reinforcing fabric.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide improved meansfor guiding the obliquely extending reinforcing strands onto the selvagestrand; to provide such a means whereby the obliquely extending strandsare engaged with the selvage strings substantially at the bite of thelaminating rolls; and to provide such a means whereby the extent ofnecking in of the selvage strands can be precisely controlled.

Another problem with machines of this type is that of the extensiveperiods of shut-down time required whenever the width of sheet materialweb is changed. In such cases it is necessary to remove the filamentdistribution conveyor or chain and replace it with another designedparticularly for the new web width, and to then re-thread thereinforcing material filaments or strands into the guide eyelets of theconveyor and thence into the laminating rolls.

Therefore, further objects of this invention are to provide a filamentdistributing means, or strand layer system, which can quickly beadjusted to accommodate different widths of sheet material webs whichare to be reinforced by a fabric extending substantially from edge toedge of the web; to provide such a system having a removablefilament-reversal guide means which can be changed quickly and easily toadjust the width of the reinforcing 3,493,455 Patented Feb. 3, 1970 ,eICC fabric produced by the conveyor; and to provide an improved meansfor weaving a fabric of reinforcing filaments whereby the fabric widthcan be precisely controlled and adjusted to accommodate various widthsof laminating webs without changing the strand conveyor or weaving head.

A specific embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view showing a reinforcing fabric weavingmachine embodying our invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly broken away, showing a reinforcingfilament weaving head and direction reversal guide means according tothe invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same, as seen from the plane of line 3-3 ofFIG. 2, showing its operative relation with the laminating Webs at thenip 0f the laminating rolls;

FIG. 4 is a similar view, with parts broken away showing the operativerelation of the weaving head and the nip of the laminating rolls when aweb of smaller width is being reinforced;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the weaving head or strand layer, as online 5-5 of FIG. 2, showing the means for supporting and guiding thecontinuous distributing chain;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the weaving head showing amodified form of the filament reversal guide means;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the same as seen from line 7-7 ofFIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of another form of filament reversal guide means;

FIG. 9 is a sectional View of the same as on line 9 9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view of the drive endof the weaving head, showing the arrangement for feeding the selvagestrands along the axis of the distributing chain sprocket; and

FIG. 1l is a schematic plan view of the weaving machine showing itsdrive arrangement for the rotary creel and the Weaving head.

The inventive concept involved in the present disclosure is to controlthe necking-in of the selvage strands, in a continuous laminated-paperreinforcement weaving machine, so that a weaving head of predeterminedsize may be used for edge to edge reinforcement of paper webs ofdifferent widths; and to accomplish that objective by guiding thereinforcing filaments into engagement with the selvage strands, uponreversal of filament feed direction, at an adjustable predetermineddistance in advance of the nip of the laminating rolls.

As shown in the drawings, a continuous-web paperreinforcing machine withwhich out invention may be carried out comprises a rotary creel 10`having a plurality of storage discs 12 each of which carries a pluralityof angularly spaced spools 14 of the filament or reinforcing strandmaterial, for example spun glass, a distributing wheel 16, a strandlayer or weaving head 18, and a movable carriage 20 having wheels 22riding on suitable rails 24. The storage discs 12 and distributing wheel16 of the creel 10 are mounted on a rotable quill shaft 26 mounted insupport columns 28 and turning on a stationary shaft, not shown, whichis fixed at its rear end in a support column 30. The filaments are ledfrom the spools 14 to the periphery of the distribution wheel 16 bymeans of individual exible tubes 32 and from the wheel 16 the filamentsrun directly to the eyelets of the weaving head 18, to be laterdescribed, as indicated at 33 in FIG. l. An extension 34, on the saidfixed shaft, projects forwardly through a gear box 35 and provides theentire support for the weaving head 18. The gear box 35 is fixed to theextension 34 and mounts spools 36 which provide the selvage strands 37for the reinforcing fabric for the paper webs.

The paper Webs 38 and 3-9, to be laminated and reinforced, are suppliedfrom suitably mounted rolls thereof. only one being shown as at 40 inFIG. 1, and these webs are brought together at the nip of laminating onpressure rollers 41 and 42, which are mounted for rotation on axesdisposed so that the nip of the rolls will be substantially in a planewhich includes the axes of the creel shaft 26 and the conveyor chainsprockets of the Weaving head 18, As shown in FIG. l, the web 39 isprovided with a coating of adhesive material by means of a roller 43,rotating in a trough 44, prior to its entry into the nip of the pressurerollers 4142. and the reinforcing strands 33 are led into the adhesivecoated surface of the web 39 at the nip of the pressure rolls where thesaid strands are embedded between the laminated webs 38-39. Thereinforcing strands are thus pulled from the Creel by the pressure rolls41-42 and are under considerable tension over their entire run from therespective spool to the pressure line at the nip of the laminatingrolls.

The reinforcing strands are carried, back and forth, transversely of thewebs 38-39 by the strand layer or weaving head 18, as the strands arebeing drawn between the pressure rolls 41-42, so as to weave thereinforcing fabric. As shown in FIG. 2, the weaving head 18 comprises anendless chain 45, trained around sprockets 46 and 47 a respective endsof a horizontal support bar 48, and a plurality of uniformly spacedeyelet fingers 49 are mounted on the outer side of the chain 45 so as toproject radially outward therefrom. An eyelet nger 49 is provided foreach strand 33 of reinforcing material, and each finger has an eyeletgrommet 50 adjacent its outer end through which the strand extends (seeFIGS. 2 and 10).

As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 the reinforcing strands 33 are drawn fromthe spools 12 on the creel 10 through suitable outlets, not shown, ofthe feed tubes 32, at the periphery of the distributing wheel 16, andthence through respective eyelets 50, in the fingers 49 on the endlesschain 45 of the weaving head 18, into the nip of the pressure rolls41-42. As the strands are pulled by the pressure rolls, the icreel anddistributing wheel are rotated at a predetermined speed and the chain 45of the distributing head is driven so as to orbit the eyelets 50 aboutthe sprockets 46-47 at the same angular speed as the wheel 16. In thisway each strand is pulled diagonally across the path of the webs beinglaminated, first in one direction and then oppositely, and since thestrands are uniformly spaced along the entire length of the conveyingchain 45, half of the number will be running in the other direction.Thus, in the well known manner, the several strands will be woven toform the reinforcing fabric between the laminated webs.

As herein shown, the selvage strands 37 supplied from the spools 36 areled to the laminating rolls 41-42 through the centers of the weavinghead sprockets 46-47 which, generally, are spaced apart a distancesubstantially equal to the width of the widest web to be reinforced bythe Weaving head. Thus the selvage strands enter the nip of the rolls41-42, parallel with the path of travel of the webs 38-39 through therolls and under a constant tension and pull.

This manner of selvage strand feed is a distinctive feature of ourimproved continuous web reinforcing machine and the arrangement fordoing so is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 wherein a feed tube 55 is` indicatedto extend axially through each of the sprockets 46-47. Thus thefilaments comprising each selvage strand are gathered at the enteringend of the respective feed tube 55 and are pulled axially therethroughdirectly into the nip of the pressure gr laminating rolls and betweenthe web 38-39 to extend along the margins thereof, preferably as des@ tQthe edge of the websv as practicable,

Details of an arrangement of the weaving head sprockets for this purposeare shown in FIG. 10 wherein the sprocket 47 is mounted on the extension56 of a quill shaft 57 journaled in suitable bearings 58 mounted at therespective end of the main support bar 48. As shown the feed tube 55extends axially through the quill shaft 57 and is fixed, at its inletend, on a suitable part of the support bar structure.

FIG. 10 also illustrates an arrangement for driving one of the weavinghead sprockets, in this case the sprocket 47. As shown, the quill shaft57 has a rearward extension 59 on which a beveled pinion 60 is mountedto mesh with a pinion 61 fast on a drive shaft 62. The drive shaft 62is, in turn, driven through suitable gearing, by a power shaft 63 (seeFIG. l1) extending forwardly from one side 0f the gear box 35 where thepower shaft 63 is directly actuated by the creel shaft 26 throughsuitable gearing not shown. In this manner the weaving head conveyorchain 45 is driven in timed relation with the rotation of the creel 10and the distributing wheel 16. In the form shown, the weaving head isdriven at one end only and the gearing and drive shaft are enclosed in asuitable housing 64 for safety purposes.

In the operation of machines of this kind wherein the diagonally runningstrands or filaments of the reinforcement fabric are turned or reversedin run direction, as the conveyor chain passes around the end sprockets,they are brought to bear upon a respective one of the selvage strandsand because of the tension on the said diagonal strands they tend topull the selvage strands inwardly toward the middle of the pressurerolls. The extent of this inward pull, or necking of the selvage strandsvaries directly with the distance between the nip of the pressure rolls41-42 and the nearest point of positive support for the selvage strands.Also, the amount of necking of the selvage strands is directly affectedby the number of diagonal strands pulling inwardly on the selvagestrands in advance of the nip of the rolls. While this necking action ofthe selvage strands has heretofore been a disadvantage, requiringelaborate means foi: delivering the transversely running filaments,independently of the selvage strands, to a point as close as possible tothe nip of the pressure rolls, we have found a way to take advantage ofthis characteristic to not only simplify the mechanisms involved, butalso to make a single weaving head do the work of several, insofar ashandling various widths of the webs to be reinforced is concerned. ThisWe do by use and accurate control of the necking in characteristic ofthe selvage strands.

Since, 'by means of the delivery tube 55, the selvage strands can besupported to within less than one inch from the nip of the pressurerolls, the first step for necking control is to support the diagonalstrands, coming from the weaving head or strand layer, independently ofthe selvage strands and until they reach an unsupported length of theselvage strands at a predetermined distance from the pressure rolls nip,in such a manner as to maintain a substantially constant tension on theweaving strands during the entire reversal of run direction and avoidthe formation of wide loops at the margins of the webs being reinforced.

Means for accomplishing this result comprises a weaving strand guidedevice 65 mounted on the weaving head at each end thereof and having aforwardly projecting element 66 extending diagonally in the plane of theselvage strands and the nip of the pressure rolls :from adjacent thepitch circle of the strand layer eyelets 50, at the ends of the weavinghead 18, to at least the end of the selvage strand delivery tube 55.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the weaving strand guide device 65 is mountedon a bracket member 67 bolted to the front face of the support bar 48and adapted to straddle the delivery tube 55, and the nut 56 which holdsthe. sprocket 46 on the sprocket shaft 57. The arm element 66 isarranged so that its rearward end is disposed as close as practicable tothe pitch circle @f the eyelets 50, at th plane of travel of the fingers49, and so that its forward end extends at an angle so as to intersectthe axis of the respective sprocket at a distance, forwardly of thesprocket, about equal to the diameter of the said pitch circle. Thus asthe distributing chain fingers carry the web reinforcing filaments 33,one after the other, around the chain sprockets, to reverse the filamentrun, the filaments are successively engaged with and supported by theangled arm of the guide device and pulled forwardly therealong by thelaminating rolls until they drop off onto the selvage strand and arecarried thereby into the nip 0f the laminating rolls. Meanwhile, andduring the entire 180 turn of direction over the distributing chainsprocket, the tension on the filaments has been maintained constantly.

When the reinforcing filaments engage the selvage strands, the tensionof the laments immediately exerts an inward pull on the selvage strandstending to pull them toward the center of the laminating webs. Thus, byvarying the unsupported length of the selvage strands, rearwardly of thenip of the laminating rolls, the actual extent of inward movement of theselvage strands under the pull -of the reinforcing web filaments can beaccurately adjusted.

In this manner a weaving head 18, of a given size, can 'be made to weavea reinforcing fabric having as much as 12 inches less width than thecenter-to-center spacing 0f the sprockets 46-47. For example, a Weavinghead having a sprocket center spacing of 84 inches can be used to prO-vide edge to edge reinforcement for laminated webs of any width between84 inches and 72 inches by merely adjusting the distance between theforward end of the selvage strand feed tubes 55 and the nip of the rolls41- 42. As herein shown, such adjustment is accomplished by moving thecarriage toward or away from the laminating rolls 41-42, according towhether the web width is to be increased or decreased, and for thispurpose the track 24 is indexed as at 68 and a pointer 69 is provided onthe carriage yfor quick determination of the desired setting.

Similar ranges of adjustment can be had for weaving heads of othersizes, i.e. center-to-center sprocket spacings of 72 inches and 60inches. Thus 3 weaving heads sizes can 'be made to handle web widths ofany size bed tween 48 and 84 inches.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the maximum fabric width disposition of the weavinghead 18 with respect to the nip line 70 of the laminating rolls. Asshown the guide means arm 66 and feed tube 55 extend as close aspossible to the nip line, where the reinforcing filaments 33 are grippedbetween the webs being laminated, and as so disposed the selvage strands37 are delivered from the feed tubes 55 twith a minimum of unsupportedlength to the nip and hence a minimum of necking At this position of theweaving head 18 the web width can be substantially the same as thecenter-to-center spacing of the sprockets 46-47 and the selvage strandswill be laid just enough inside the edges of the web to be completelysealed between the laminated sheets.

FIG. 4 illustrates the relationship of the weaving head 18 and the nipline 70 when a reinforcing fabric of less width than the spacing of thesprockets 46-47 is desired, as when a narrower -width of web 38 is beingworked. In this case the weaving head 18 has been retracted from the nip70 so as to leave an unsupported length of the selvage strand 37,between the nip 70 and the forward end of the feed tube 55, sufficientfor the filaments 33 to act to cause necking in of the selvage strand tothe extent necessary to cause it to enter the nip 70 just inside theedge of the web 38.

In each of FIGS. 3 and 4 it will be understood that the filaments 33 arebeing carried transversely of the webs 38-38 by the conveyor chain 45 ofthe weaving head 18, simultaneously with the forward travel of the webs,which action causes the inward pull on the selvage strands 37.

The guide arms 66 may be of any suitable form that will engage thefilaments at the turn and then support them as they slide forwardly toengage the selvage strand, and may be made of any material which canhave sufficient rigidity and a minimal coefiicient of friction for thefilaments sliding thereon. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the guide armis formed of a metal rod doubled upon itself and with the legs divergingfrom the looped forward end 71. The legs are then welded, adjacent theirrearward ends, to lateral members 72 which are connected to the bracket67. The filament engaging surfaces of the guide arm are highly polishedor otherwise treated, to minimize friction and preferably the distal endof the arm is curved inwardly across the path of the selvage strandadjacent the end of the feed tube 55 to avoid interference with the saidstrand when it is defiected by the necking-in process.

FIGURES 6 and 7 show another form of filament transfer guide devicewherein the forwardly projecting element 73 is made to include a segmentof a right conical surface for its filament engaging area, the axes ofgeneration for such surface being disposed coincidently with the axis ofthe selvage feed tube 55 and the radius of the base being onlysufficiently less than that of the pitch circle of the distributingfinger eyelets 50 to permit the filaments to engage the conical surfaceas they are carried over the coaxial sprocket. This segment of a cone ismounted on a bracket member 74, which is apertured at 75 to clear thenut 56 and the feed tube 55, and the bracket is mounted on thedistributing head frame 48 in substantially the same manner as thedevice of FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the distal end ofthe feed tube 55 extends to, and is coincident with the forward tip 76of the cone element 73.

FIGURES 8 and 9 show still another form of filament transfer guidedevice wherein the forwardly projecting element is a solid bar 77 havinga rounded outer surface on which the filaments are engaged. This bar isdisposed in the same manner as the guide device of FIGS. 2 and 3 and isattached to a mounting bracket, like that for the cone element of FIGS.6 and 7, by means of a lateral member 78.

As in the case of the guide device of FIGS. 2 and 3, the filamentengaging surfaces of the forwardly projecting element, regardless of itsform, is highly polished, or otherwise treated, to minimize friction.

Also it should be understood that in special cases, where a certainweaving head is to be used to weave a reinforcing fabric of lesser widththan the center-to-center spacing of the conveyor chain sprockets, theguide tube 55 may be angled inwardly from the sprocket axis and thefilament turn-over guide element may be extended to the delivery and ofthe guide tube. FIGURE 8 shows such an arrangement.

FIGURE 1l illustrates the manner in which our improved reinforcingfabric weaving machine is driven. Power is taken from the drive for thelaminating rolls, not shown, through a shaft 75, clutch 76 and driveshaft 77. The drive shaft 77 connects with a speed change device 78 bybelts 79, running over pulleys 80 and 81, and the Speed change device isdrivingly connected to the main quill shaft 26 by belts 82 running overpulleys. The quill shaft 26 turns the creel 10 and, as before mentioned,also drives the weaving head 1,8, at the same angular speed, through thegear box 35 and the shaft 63.,Thus, by means of the speed change device78 (the speed of the weaving head can be adjusted as may be desired tovary the mesh or density of the web reinforcing fabric.

We claim:

1. In a machine for forming a reinforcement fabric on a continuouslymoving web of sheet material, a weaving head comprising (A) An endlessconveyor disposed to travel transversely of the said web around a pairof laterally spaced pulleys and having a plurality of uniformly spacedradially projecting eyelet fingers thereon for guiding filaments ofreinforcing material,

(B) means for driving said conveyor at a predetermined speed,

(C) means for feeding a selvage strand forwardly from said conveyoralong the axes of each of said pulleys,

(D) and fixed guide means projecting forwardly from each pulley andextending inwardly from adjacent the pitch circle of said eyelet fingerstoward the pulley axis for supporting reinforcing material filamentsturned thereon by the orbiting eyelet fingers on said conveyor whileguiding said filaments into engagement with said selvage strands.

2. A machine as defined by claim 1 wherein the filaments and selvagestrands are under a constant tension.

3. A machine as defined by claim 1 wherein the fixed guide meanscomprises elements of a cone having its apex located adjacent the axisof the respective pulley and its base adjacent the plane of the endlessconveyor.

4. A machine as defined by claim 1 wherein the fixed guide meanscomprises elements of a cone disposed with its axis intersecting theaxis of the respective pulley and lying in a plane common to the axes ofboth pulleys.

5. In a mechanism for forming and laying a fabric of reinforcingmaterial upon a continuously moving continuous web Iof sheet materialcomprising continuously moving means for laying spaced filaments uponsaid web diagonally of the direction of movement thereof and includingan endless conveyor which travels around a pair of laterally spacedsprockets and orbits filament carrying eyelets in a plane substantiallynormal to the direction of web movement, and means for feeding a selvagestrand to said moving web along the axis of rotation of each of saidsprockets, the improvement comprising forwardly and inwardly projectingguide means extending from adjacent the pitch circle of the orbitingeyelets at each sprocket to intersect the respective sprocket axis at afixed distance forwardly of the orbit plane of said eyelets forsupporting said filaments as said eyelets turn about the sprocket axesand delivering said filaments onto the respective selvage strand at saidfixed distance from the said orbit plane.

6. A mechanism as defined by claim S including a pair of laminatingrolls for pulling said web of sheet material and between which saidlaments and selvage strands are drawn into engagement with said web, andmeans for adjusting the distance between said endless conveyor and theplane of the laminating roll axes.

7. A mechanism as defined .by claim 6 wherein the said conveyor has apitch length greater than twice the Width of said web of sheet material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,338,164 4/1920 Angier 156-4301,362,066 12/1920 Wandel 156-430 1,951,301 3/1934 Augier et al. 156-4302,772,718 12/1956 Magnuson 156-439 XR 2,614,054 10/1952 Baisch et al156-439 XR 3,284,268 11/1966 Rsler 156-439 3,360,410 12/1967 Romanin156-430 XR HAROLD ANSHER, Primary Examiner D. J. FRITSCH, AssistantExaminer U.S. Cl. X.R.

